Breadmaker

[r8rpwr]

I love to make bread, but I don't really like making it in a bread machine. It's really not hard to do it the old way; it takes a little time, but then so does the bread machine. It's not difficult at all.

[tcinsa]

I have 2 bread makers which I use a few times a week. However, I only use them to make the dough. This is really convenient for me and keeps the mess to a minimum.

I bake the bread in the oven, although I rarely bake whole loaves. Usually, I make breadsticks or rolls or cinnamon rolls, because they bake very quickly and no slicing after they come out.

I don't buy the pre-packaged mixes anymore because I discovered how easy and inexpensive it is to put the ingredients in from scratch. Sometimes, if I know I'll be making a lot of bread that week, I put the dry ingredients in separate ziplock bags - enough for 6 or 8 batches. Then, it only takes a couple of minutes to add the wet ingredients and yeast and get the dough going.

I would never have thought I'd use my machines this much but now, I rarely buy a loaf of bread!

[tlbutler]

Funny I have a bread maker and I love it, it does everything all at once, just add ingredients in order from your recipe book that comes with the maker, and it does it all by itself, kinda like magic, mixes, kneads and even rises all in the same appliance, takes about 3 hours, love the smell of bread baking and so do my neighbours I live in an apartment so everyone can smell it when I am baking bread.

[George]

Originally Posted by TexasRose

I like making bread the old fashioned way. Actually someone gave me a breadmaker as a wedding gift but I never used it.

Same thing happened to me...I got one as a gift, I used it for about a month and started making it the old fashion way....

Things I don't like about bread makers...

Bread is always a little "wet" when it is done

Bread always has a hole in the bottom of it where the mixer was at

Bread crust is never very good...

just my two cents!

[Big Daddy's Kitchen]

My big Zojirushi does it in three hours from start to finish vs. 8 hours for the regualr way.

[KYHeirloomer]

I'm wondering what you mean by "the regular way", BD? There are som many ways of making bread that you risk sounding dogmatic.

I'm very into delayed fermentation, and the use of preferments, etc. All the things pioneered by Peter Reinhart. Some breads, using those methods, can take as much as three days. And all of them take at least two.

Whether using Reinharts methods, or typical bread recipes (which are based on fast rising and low hydration), or a bread machine, however, almost all the time is wait-time. And you can do all sorts of other things between stages. So, like time spent in Brooklyn, it doesn't count.

[jglass]

I have one of those little Sunbeam bread machines from WalMart. It was only like $40.
I bake bread in occasionally but more than anything I use the dough setting to knead/rise my dough to bake in the oven. Im not fond of the shape the bread comes out of the bread machine in.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Always have sour-dough starter in the fridge... if'n I don't use any in a week's time- I toss a bit and keep feeding... couldn't live without a healthy mother in the fridge! And at holiday time, everybody gets a peanut-butter jar of it! Great for everything from breads and biscuits- to pancakes, waffles and pizza crust! KYH's got the right idea with delayed fermentation!

[Big Daddy's Kitchen]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

I'm wondering what you mean by "the regular way", BD? There are som many ways of making bread that you risk sounding dogmatic.

I'm very into delayed fermentation, and the use of preferments, etc. All the things pioneered by Peter Reinhart. Some breads, using those methods, can take as much as three days. And all of them take at least two.

Whether using Reinharts methods, or typical bread recipes (which are based on fast rising and low hydration), or a bread machine, however, almost all the time is wait-time. And you can do all sorts of other things between stages. So, like time spent in Brooklyn, it doesn't count.

The regular way, meaning doing the dough with a stand mixer and a dough hook. That's the easy part.

But you have to manually let it rise for about 2 hours, punch it down, manually knead it again, shape it into loaves and manually let it rise again before baking it.


The Zojirushi does all that for you. You'll NEVER have to touch the raw dough at all from start to finish! That is, unless you want to Dough Only
cycle so that you can finish it by hand.

But to me, to do it by hand from start to finish, it takes practically all day!!

That is why I had to get up at 5 in the morning to start making dough for Parkerhouse rolls.